Physical Therapy
by Minerva394
Summary: Staying in Australia after the Second Wizarding War Hermione Granger tries to repair her relationship with her parents. With time on her hands she studies Muggle Physical Therapy. Back in England she encounters Severus Snape who is suffering still from Nagini's bites. She tries to help him. Snape notices that his health improves, along with other bodily reactions ...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Welcome back to my new story! It is finished and will be posted in four parts regularly. Enjoy!

May 1998

Voldemort was dead. Finally.

Hermione Granger stayed at Grimmauld Place for two weeks with Harry. They attended a funeral nearly every day and got drunk afterwards. Hermione knew that every day counted with the Memory charm she'd placed on her parents and therefore made arrangements to travel to Australia as soon as possible.

The Weasleys, particularly Ron, were not supportive of her idea but Harry understood perfectly well. He even offered to come along but the female third of the Golden Trio declined. Harry would heal best with the Weasleys. Besides, his testimony was crucial, the Ministry and public opinion being what they were. Kingsley Shacklebolt, as acting Minister, did what he could, but without somebody else keeping an eye on things Draco and Narcissa Malfoy and – more important in Hermione's eyes – Severus Snape would not be treated fairly.

The young woman felt the slightest bit guilty about leaving everything to Harry – who really had done enough already – but knew that if she stayed any longer she would become too involved to leave in time. She hoped to be back to sit her NEWTS in September. Just for her own piece of mind she left several sheets of color-coded parchment with the most important facts in chronological order.

In Sidney an unpleasant surprise awaited Hermione. Apparently Monica and Wendell Wilkins had left the city soon after immigrating to Australia for whereabouts unknown. She tried to search for them herself via the internet and phonebooks but came up with blanks. Before using a recommendation letter for the Aurory Down Under Kingsley had pressed upon her, she tried her luck with a Muggle private investigator. Who succeeded in fairly short order. The man had access to social security and immigration records and had not made the same mistake as Hermione, looking for Monica and Wendell Wilkins, dentists. For Hermione's parents had not taken up their learned profession again but opened up a hostel for surfers near Torquay, Victoria.

To her utter relief the reversal of the Memory charm went without a hitch. What soon became apparent however was, that her relationship with her parents was severly strained. Mrs Granger tensed whenever Hermione brandished her wand and Wendell Granger often looked at his daughter with barely concealed ire. The young witch had told them everything that had happened from first year on and while her parents at first directed her anger at Hogwarts' and the Ministry's administration for withholding so much information they put blame at their daugther's feet, too. Quite rightly so, as she had been of age in both worlds when wiping her parent's memory.

Her mother in particular had felt an integral part of herself missing. Monica Granger had tried everything from antidepressants, therapy to more esoteric measures to fill the void she felt. In her husband the missing child had manifested in constant antsiness. He had taken up cycling, cruising across the country to the point of physical exhaustion and even had had an affair, which had put a severe strain on their marriage.

Hermione put her mind to the problem but had to realise that logical explanations only went so far. The issue between her and her family went deeper. The Memory charm had disturbed the emotional connection. And trust, of course. During her Hogwarts years she had been away for most of the year and had also spent part of her holidays rather at school or with the Weasleys than at home. But the long absences had never interfered with their good rapport, the connection had always been back in an instant right after flying into her parents embrace after disembarking the Hogwarts Express. With the ban on under-age magic it had been easy to compartimentalise. Hermione felt guilty for not telling her parents everything that went on in the magical world but could suppress, forget even, that guilt quite easily when fully submerged in the Muggle world.

The young witch had to make a decision. Making it was easier than she first thought. While the magical world was very important to her she felt that it would be hypocrisy to fight against a Dark Wizard bent on destroying Muggleborns while cutting her ties to her own Muggle family. Hermione told her parents that she would like to stay in Australia with them and work on gaining their trust again. They agreed on her having the small attic room of the hostel in exchange for helping with the running of the business and on having dinner together regularly.

This decision brought on different reactions from her friends. Harry was supportive again, understanding the importance of family, Ron broke up with her via a bitter, accusing letter, Molly wrote that she would make him understand that this was a time for families to be together and Minerva McGonagall assured her of looking into ways to either delay her NEWTs infinitely or have her take the equivalent of them in Australia.

At Hermione's arrival at the end of May the season in the hostel was winding down and only few people were staying there. Helping her father doing necessary repairs – and being astonished at how proficient he had become – prompted memories of early childhood: helping her father assembling the Christmas lights or sanding and painting a set of wooden spoons for Mother's Day. Wendell Granger seemed to thaw a little bit but Hermione knew getting her daddy back would take more than a few freshly painted porches and window-sills.

In June the Grangers had planned a skiing trip to New Zealand, during which the hostel would be closed. They reluctantly asked their daughter along but then all three agreed on her staying back. The separation would give mother and father time alone to come to terms with their new-found child and Hermione intended to use the time to look into her educational prospects, both magical and Muggle.

May 2001

Hermione Granger drew in a shaky breath after exiting costums at Heathrow, London. The flight had been passable, the food gruesome, but it felt good to be back in England. She had been able to take her NEWTs in Sidney but then could not further her magical education. There had been an Arithmancer in Queensland who would have taken her on as an apprentice but he had insisted on her living with him. Therefore Hermione had to look into other options, because leaving her parents at this point of their relationship would damage the fragile truce they had managed to build so far.

As a child the young witch had been enrolled in the usual classes British middle class parents considered suitable: ballet, riding, a bit of self defense. Riding had soon to be given up because Hermione's fear of heights went so far that atop a pony felt high to her. In the other classes she tried to do well, she always tried to do well in a class, but only ever got mediocre results. The girl was so far ahead of her age companions intellectually that she never had to put in much effort to be the best, but where it came to physical pursuits she had to learn the hard way how it felt to be struggling. The Grangers always rather read by the fire than played football in the yard, they went hiking if a promising tea-room waited at the end and they tried to eat and live healthy, but overall the mind always won over the body with them.

Hermione grew up with the utmost reliance on her intellect but nearly no awareness of her body. While she was not a particularly clumsy child she never ever raced another child just for the fun of it. When meeting the girls from the hockey club – red cheeked, sweaty, boisterous and high on adrenaline – after her own chemistry club she could never relate to them because she had never experienced the rush of wind on her cheeks during a race, the pleasant exhaustion after a gruelling training session, the sense of achievement when one had pushed her body to the limits and beyond and had come out quicker or stronger because of it. Hermione did not know that she missed something, a lot of girls were just like her in that sense. Only seeing Ginny playing with her brothers she envied the younger girl her effortless confidence in her body. Ginny jumped, rolled off, dove and climbed with no hesitation whatsoever.

In Australia at first Hermione went swimming in the sea every morning, then sat in the dawning light to watch the surfers. Their glide on or under a wave reminded her of one of the boy's more daring stunts – to stand on their broom. She tried to analyse the waves, to anticipate the best time for the surfer to stand up, to find out why he tumbled into the water again. While she could – at first – not understand the tenacity with which the surfer community chased after the perfect wave, she saw how much pleasure they drew from what they were doing. When she realised that even her 62 years old father owned a board she first thought of trying it herself. During the height of the season Mr Granger did not have time, but when the hostel got less busy, he took his daughter along and tried to teach her.

Hermione failed completely. Neither was her sense of balance good enough nor her muscles strong enough. Tenacious by nature and with time on her hands after her NEWTs she added running to her daily regime and attended pilates classes together with her mother. By the time the young woman noticed results the surfing season was over, but Hermione's knowledge of how the human body worked had grown considerably. And with Torquay offering not much on higher education she enrolled herself in the community college to train to become a physical therapist. Harry was good enough to send her magical books on healing, because Amazon had not yet branched out to the wizarding world, nor had Flourish and Blotts embraced the World Wide Web. To Hermione's surprise physical therapy hardly existed in healing. Further reading gave her the reason for this: most injuries, that – in the Muggle world - would need this sort of therapy were healed fast enough, so that neither tendons shortened nor muscles atrophied, and strokes or other traumas to the nervous system were extremely rare. She still tried to combine her knowledge from both worlds and even had some ideas for potions or charms to further the efficiency of treatments and exercises she learned in her classes.

Hermione's heightened awareness of her own body also led to her gaining a new approach to her own sexuality. Before coming to Australia she had had some crushes, had fancied herself in love, had snogged Viktor and Ron and had even slept with a Muggle boy during the Easter holidays of her sixth year, but none of these experiences had led her to understanding why her classmates completely lost their heads when in the throes of passion, hormones or whatever (she wouldn't call it love). Sure, she had experimented with her own body, but rather due to her conviction that a modern woman should be aware of her own erogenous zones than due to real need. She had some fantasies that worked well for tension relief, but the backstories to them were rather complicated, usually centering on a faceless, tall stranger choosing her for her brilliance rather than her bodily attributes, and therefore not relived very often.

After half a year of training Hermione noticed some differences. After a run on the beach she felt thoroughly alive, full of oxygen down to her last pore. Her skin prickled with the drying sweat on her skin, her sensations were heightened. She noticed the friction her sports bra caused on her breasts, she took pleasure from how her body now reacted to the smallest command with as much speed and accuracy as her magic. Before Australia personal hygiene had been something to be done as fast as possible, because it took her away from her studies, but now she learned to enjoy taking her time with washing her – now shorter – hair, shaving her legs full of anticipation of how the wind and the water would feel on the smooth skin. Hermione still wasn't a particularly vivacious and outgoing person but her new confidence in and understanding of her body showed and garnered the attention of a lot more males than before. She kept her relationships low-key, but nevertheless enjoyed herself a lot with her lovers.

By Christmas of the year 2000 she had her diploma and was way more graceful on a board than on a broom. The relationship between the Grangers and their daughter was nearly what it had been before the war, her parents now understanding Hermione's need to be in the magical world even better. They were thankful for the effort she had made but could clearly see that she needed other challenges than helping people strengthen their muscles again after an operation. Therefore all three together decided that the young witch would return to London and look for either a job or further magical training there.

Which was why she was standing there at Heathrow, waiting for the express. She could have apparated, but three years were a long time and buildings and alleys might have changed.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

Harry looked nearly the same as three years ago, but Grimmauld Place was unrecognisable, in a good way. The reactions of her friends also told Hermione that she herself had changed a lot: not only was her hair much shorter and bleached by the sun, her body tanned and muscled, her whole stance had changed. So much, that she could walk along Diagon Alley without anyone recognising her as the female third of the Golden Trio. She turned a few heads, but not because of being a heroine of VW2. At _Flourish and Blotts_ the young witch spent far more money on books than she had planned, but then that had always been her way. Searching for a book on medicinal potions she caught a glimpse of Severus Snape. The Potions master had been acquitted of all war-crimes and even been awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class. Hermione remembered that Harry had written that he did not return to Hogwarts but worked as a private researcher and brewer. Decked out in dark grey robes, hair tied back, she had nearly missed him. He looked pale and drawn and not markedly happier than during her last year at school, which puzzled her a bit.

The riddle was solved when she spotted him again on her way to the apothecary. It might not have been noticeable to the average person, but a trained physical therapist could draw the right conclusions. Snape favoured his right leg, kept his shoulders rigid and his left arm close. Further observation in the apothecary, where he flexed his left hand and leaned on the counter when he thought nobody looking, confirmed Hermione's assumption that he suffered from aftereffects of Nagini's venom, a poison that would affect the nervous system. Hermione waited until he had left the shop and put in her own order, ingredients for the potions she had thought of in Australia, but had had no laboratory to brew in.

After a raucous dinner at the Burrow and catching up with her old friends she laid awake in what had formerly been Regulus' room. Not yet attuned to Greenwich time she could not hope to sleep for some hours. She turned her thoughts to her former professor once more. Arthur Weasley had told her that the spy had been found by Lucius Malfoy, found on the brink of death due to his blood loss. Snape had taken anti-venom in advance, but still the left side of his body had been affected. It was presumed that the heavy loss of blood had slowed down the distribution of the venom throughout the body. That tidbit of information assuaged Hermione's guilt of leaving him for dead in the Shrieking Shack, because she was quite sure that - if she had tried to help him – she would have healed the wound first, thus spreading the venom further. Arthur also told her that Hogwarts' former headmaster kept mainly to himself, but sometimes could be persuaded to join himself and Kingsley for a game of poker.

A week later, after she had visited most of her acquaintances, Hermione thought anew of Severus Snape. She was quite sure that she might be able to help him, at least a little bit. The next three days she made numerous attempts in writing a letter.

i Master Snape,

Please forgive me my presumption in writing to you. I have spent the last three years in Australia, for reasons that are of no concern here. At first I want to thank you personally for all you have done for me as a student, as a witch, as a Muggle-born. From an adult perspective I realise how much more difficult we have made it for you to keep us safe. There is no way my friends and I can ever repay all your good deeds on our behalf, but I might be able to make a first step.

This brings me to the second reason for this letter: I happened upon you in Diagon Alley and later in the apothecary and what I saw raised my interest as a professional. In Australia I have trained as a physical therapist, the Muggle way. As there is no magical equivalent for physical therapy I have tried to enhance the efficiency of exercises with charms and potions. Please don't burn this letter right now. From the way you held your body I guess that you have severe pain in your right hip, burning pain in your lower back and pain from cramped muscles in your upper body, debilitating tension headaches and sometimes numbness in your left extremities. I cannot promise complete relief of your symptoms, but I can show you how to make it better. Your owl would find me.

Yours sincerely

Hermione Granger/i

As expected, her letter garnered no response. She had copied it several times and sent it again after three days. And then a week later. Hermione also left copies with Arthur, Kingsley and Draco Malfoy, whom she met by chance at Starbucks on the Strand of all places. She busied herself with looking for a job and researching possible apprenticeships and was halfway resigned to not hearing from Snape when two weeks later an nondescript owl arrived for her at Grimmauld Place.

iMs Granger,

I am free today. My house is at 42, Spinner's End, Cokeworth. Potter can give you the Apparition coordinates. You may use his password to my wards.

Severus Snape/i

Hermione quickly quelled any rising annoyance about his curt message. If her guesses were right he was in a lot of pain right now, otherwise he would not let a detested former pupil come to his home.

iMaster Snape,

I will be at your home at 3 pm. Please make sure that a room large enough for a treatment table is warmed up sufficiently, do not eat anything later than 1 pm, take a very hot bath shortly before 3 and wear comfortable clothes.

Yours,

Hermione Granger/i

Thankfully Harry had not asked any questions when Hermione had shown him Snape's letter. She apparated on the riverbank behind an abandoned mill and walked for some minutes until coming up to a rather sad looking street, Spinner's End. Quite a few of the houses were unoccupied, the others did not look much better. The Potions master's home was between two boarded up lots, covered up with heavy Do-not-notice-charms, but no Muggle-repelling ones. The witch whispered the password and was able to walk up to the door and knock. Snape opened almost at once.

„Master Snape."

„Ms Granger. Do come in."

She followed him through a narrow hallway into what must have been a living room once, but now was full of books, from the floor to the ceiling and even in stacks on the floor and every other surface. Hermione used the few seconds to take her host's appearance in. He was wearing cotton drawstring trousers and a dark grey, warm sweater. The absence of his teaching robes made it even more appearant that he was of very lean build. His face was pale, with dark smudges under his eyes and sharp creases that told the young woman of constant pain. That much she had already guessed. A faint whiff of his breath told her that his migraine must be bad enough for him to not keep any food down. This intensely private man would not have summoned her if he had not been desperate.

In the living room a small settee and a coffee table had been pushed aside to make some room. Hermione had no idea how much Snape knew about her work. Enlarging her massage table she addressed him.

„Sir, I will explain what I am doing as we go along. Normally I would ask you a few questions about your general health, but that can come later. Is there anything I should know right now?"

He shook his head.

„Feel free to shut me up anytime, particularly when you get drowsy."

She put a fresh sheet on the table and turned around to warm up some blankets and her massage oil.

„Please undress down to your underwear and lay down on your stomach."

When she was ready he was already laying on the table. Hermione covered his right side after positioning a rolled up towel under his ankles and picked up a small instrument shaped like a little poker. She was pleased to note that, while he was far from heavily built, he was lightly muscled and the left side had not atrophied too badly. This gave her work a much better chance of succeeding.

„At first I am giving you an akupoint massage. I am trying to unblock energy-pathways. They are quite similar to the paths magic travels through our bodies. You will notice certain areas – your hip, the side of your thigh - growing very warm before becoming painful, but this will be of a short duration."

She started to trace the paths, from his forhead upwards over his head, along his arms until his ring finger, then going down his back, aside over his sciatic nerve, his legs, finishing with his fourth toe. Particularly the area on his hip drew a hiss from him, but as she worked on she felt him relaxing. Re-heating the towels she covered the left side up and repeated the whole process on the rigth one. By the time Hermione finished the right leg he was fast asleep.

Tracing her way back to the hallway she found the kitchen door, where she made herself a cup of tea before looking for oatmeal. On the windowsill she found some herbs to season the gruel she thought her patient might need before a session of physical therapy.

An hour later Snape came into the kitchen. Hermione wanted to head off any unpleasantries by apologizing first.

„Forgive my presumption, but I thought you might need this before we continue. And I needed some tea."

„Do not worry. I haven't slept like this in years. And it was quite rude of me not to offer tea."

They ate in companionable silence. Then Hermione asked him about his symptoms and what he did to conquer them. After ascertaining that he had Muscle Relaxing potions at hand they went back to the dining room, where she proceeded to give him a classical massage. He did not fall asleep again. Casting another warming charm on the room she made him stand up in front of her. The young witch tried to further map his injuries and the state of his muscles in his back and legs.

She showed him some exercises to build up strength and how to walk without shoes, concentrating on putting his left sole down in a certain way. Due to pain, clients tended to favour their good extremity, thus further weakening the ill one. Snape asked some questions but on the whole appeared to bend to her knowledge.

„Sir, would you show me where you sit, when you read, and your laboratory. And your bed? A chair that might be a favourite could be all wrong for your condition."

They agreed for him to read while standing, keeping the tension in his legs equally strong and his knees bent slightly. Introducing Severus Snape to pilates and the power-house was a bit tricky but went well after some initial hesitation on his side.

The lab table Hermione deemed to be too low to be good for his back. Snape grumbled a bit but then told her that he had had that thought himself already and had only put off heightening his lab benches because it had to be done without magic. He would find a Muggle carpenter to put longer legs on the table and the benches.

Upstairs Hermione proceeded to check his bed – she had developed spells for that, no need to lay down in her clients' beds to see whether the mattress sagged or not. The Potions master watched in something close to astonishment as his bed replayed his sleeping patterns in fast forward, dipping there and then, the pillow twisting in an attempt to find a comfortable position.

„The slatted frame sags too much and you mattress is getting thin, too. I can reinforce both for now but you should consider getting new ones. And I will Transfigure your pillows into relief-pillows, one for your neck and the other one to put between you knees, when you lie on your side. They will keep your spine straight from your neck to your hips and should help against migraines and backpains."

She made him lie down to show him the best position for his legs and how to make sure that there was no crick in his neck. During the exercises earlier Hermione had gotten warm and had left her sweater downstairs. Only Snape's pink cheeks made her realise that, despite her tank-top being a modest one, their retrospective positions on the bed had given him a good view of her cleavage. To her dismay she found that thought rather arousing. Since being more in tune with her body Hermione's libido was awakened rather quickly. Usually she reveled in this but not right now. She straightened up again and strove to be as businesslike as possible. That effort was twarted by her stomach growling.

„Ms Granger, now that I am able to eat something less bland than gruel would you join me for dinner? I had planned on ordering from the „Taj Mahal" up the road."

Hermione's internal debate was fierce. On one side she wanted to be away from Snape as fast as possible and deal with her sudden revelation - that he was a man -in privacy, on the other side she was intrigued and curious. And a little bit pleased that finally she got attention from her most challenging former teacher.

„Yes, I would like that. Vegetable korma for me please. Could you show me where I can freshen up?"

Snape's bathroom was small, clean and functional. Hermione cooled her neck and ran a washcloth under her armpits and under her breasts before re-doing her braid.

She checked her teeth for parsley from their lunch and then tackled the elephant in the room. The feared – and admired – Potions master of her childhood, the a tad over-romanticized spy she had followed via newspapers was first human and second a man. A man she found attractive.

Hermione had treated her share of surfers back in Australia, some of them really good looking. Sometimes she had treated her partners. Yet never had she had a problem with the line between professionalism and physical attraction. A little voice piped up in her head that with Snape it wasn't physical, mainly, but the recognition that, after already finding his mind (and his voice) a thing of beauty, she now had firsthand knowledge that the rest of him was far from repulsive. The main turn-on, however, was that the interest seemed to be mutual. Cooling her face once more she resolved on tackling the problem head-on. She would try to read his cues and then take the initiative, if necessary.

Meanwhile Snape had done the table, complete with linen, and opened up a bottle of white wine. He poured the food into bowls and raised his glass. Hermione did likewise and was surprised by a true smile from her counterpart.

„Cheers, Ms Granger. Will you believe me that, at my last visit at Hogwarts I came across Sybil. She was about to pass me by, muttering, when she did a double-take before announcing that she no longer saw a gruesome death in my future but that a woman from far away was about to enter my life and make it better."

Hermione was snorting the wine through her nose so hard was she laughing.

„You are having me on!"

His mien betrayed nothing as he shook his head.

„To Professor Trelawny, then!"

After quenching their appetite for some minutes Hermione addressed her companion.

„Forgive me, Master Snape, I know that I have hardly seen you outside our teacher-pupil-relationship, but today you appear positively giddy to me."

He laid down his knife and fork and leaned over the table.

„Ms Granger, will you allow me to address you differently? My mind can't hear the difference between Miss and Ms. You may call me Severus, or Snape, but please do not call me Professor or Master."

Taken aback by his request she nodded and tried out both in her mind.

„I probably should not have drunk a glass of wine with that muscle relaxing potion in my body, but as it is not dangerous I do not care for once. Waking up after the war, with Voldemort gone and Harry Potter still alive, I really thought life might get better for me. And it did, at least for a while. When I realised that my physical condition was no longer improving and that I hardly ever had a few hours without pain I worked on improving existing potions to help myself. Now I am immune even to these draughts and the last few months I went from angry to resigned to depressed. You show up, do your Muggle magic and I am already painfree for four hours. I have a right to be giddy."

„You do. But I have to caution you. Tomorrow you will be rather sore, some areas of your back where I worked on your trigger points will even be bruised. Take it slowly, keep the house as warm as possible and try to sit, walk and stand as I showed you. I do not know yet how much damage the venom has done to your nerves. I am confident that I can alleviate a lot of your symptoms but it is no magical cure. You have to do the exercises regularly and probably for the rest of your life. Is it all right for me to come over around four in the afternoon? I want to show you some more exercises and maybe give you another massage if you tense up again."

„Of course. But I would not want to take up too much of your time."

Hermione was aware that she spent her time right now rather unproductively, as she did not know what to do.

„Don't worry, I have time." She paused shortly, unsure of whether to ask.

„Spill it, Miss – Hermione."

„I am right now trying decide what to do now. Should I become an apprentice? If so, what subject and with whom? Shall I take up Kingsley's old offer to work in the Ministry? If it is all right with you I'd like to pick your brain some time."

„I will gladly be of help. I think that most of my former students are at least content in with their chosen paths, even if for some of them my advice pointed them into unexpected directions."

Hermione took her leave soon after.

At home she sat down with a cup of tea, trying to calm down. After some deliberation she decided to take it one step at a time. Severus Snape was a very complex man with a lot of history. She tried not to let her imagination run away with her but was reasonably sure that he was not a man to have an affair with just for the fun of it. On the other hand no other man before had thrilled and challenged her like he did. Her dreams that night were a bit disjointed but not unpleasant.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Thank you all for your reviews, I really appreciate them. I am a bit nervous about the next chapter as I have never written anything like ... Brace yourself.

Part III

The next afternoon brought Hermione to Spinner's End once more. Snape – or rather Severus – opened in the same attire as the day before. As they sat down with a cup of tea she asked him some questions about his sleep and the state of his muscles. Severus claimed to be only minimally sore – that she attributed to a rather abnormally high pain threshold – but asked for another massage before starting exercises because around his left shoulder blade were still some painful knots. He stripped down to his briefs while Hermione warmed her towels and oil and climbed onto the table.

The muscles in his back were indeed tensed up, but that would be so for some time, until exercises would have built up the right groups of muscles. The young woman told her patient as much and mentioned that he might need massages two or three times a week to stay pain free from that area. His mumbling sounded a lot like `worse things have happened to me than being kneaded by a young woman three times a week´. Severus stayed awake this time. When he reached for his clothes Hermione told him to leave them off and rather warm up the room, as she needed to see the muscles in his legs and lower back working.

Kneeling in front of a nearly naked Potions master she started with his soles. Touching certain spots on his calves she made sure that he understood how exactly to shift his weight when standing and walking. Working her way up she showed him which muscles in his thighs would tense when he placed his knees correctly over his forefoot.

The next set of exercises were for his pelvis and the muscles in that area, to avoid a hollow-back and to achieve the correct alignment of pelvis, knees and feet. She used her left shoulder to keep his left hip-bone in place while encouraging the use of certain muscles with the placement of her hands on his lower back and bum. He did every exercise correctly on the first or second try and Hermione was about to congratulate herself on a task well done when his hiss made her look up.

„Are you in pain? Where?"

„No," came out between clenched teeth. His red cheeks and strained briefs told her why. Hermione thought about how she must look from his position – kneeling in front of him, hands still on his tighs, looking up with huge eyes – and blushed herself. It felt exhilarating to have such an effect on the wizard who was legendary for his self-control. She could not help being turned on by that knowledge but strove to play the situation down.

„Do not worry. Usually people pass wind when doing these exercises. Your reaction is preferable."

He closed his eyes with a sigh, visibly trying to reign himself in. Hermione noticed her own breath coming in short puffs, her nipples tightening in perfect accordance to the tingling in her nether regions. Giving head was usually a means to an end for her but right now it seemed the most desirable thing to do. She surprised herself by taking only a split second to come to a decision. Deliberately brushing her pebble-hard nipples along his tighs she waited for him to recognize her own interest before cupping his member in a featherlight touch.

„Severus, may I?"

An indrawn breath and a jerky nod were her answer. Cradling his sack with one hand she drew his briefs down over his thighs. His member sprang free, the tip already leaking. Seeing the proof of his arousal turned her on even more. Hermione licked along, from the base to the tip, before putting her lips over the head of his penis. Severus' breaths were coming in short puffs now. She tightened her lips and drew her hands in a circular motion around his shaft while bobbing up and down. A moan alerted her to his impending orgasm. The young witch relaxed her throat and drew him in deeper, speeding up her motions. A scant minute later he came hard, sighing „Hermione, oh god, yes!" She licked him clean, not caring about his come on her cheek and dribbling into her cleavage.

Hermione sat back on her haunches and looked up. Severus hung his head down, eyes closed, and struggled to get his breath back. When he turned his eyes on her they widened as he saw the evidence of their tryst. The young woman swung wildly between panic over her impulsive deed and exhilaration, her own arousal not making things easier for her. Snape had knelt down across from her and was still looking at her like a little boy who got a present he hadn't even dared to wish for. The open vulnerability on his face let her forget her dismay about her violation of her professional boundaries, for the moment at least. She reached for his hands. When he let her she shuffled closer, giving him time to withdraw. Closing her eyes she waited for him to make the next step. Hermione felt his breath on her lips in short gasps before he kissed her, ever so tenderly. The soft explorations of her lips and mouth continued until her insides were coiled tightly with anticipation. The young woman locked her hands behind the Potions master's neck, urging him on. When he felt her nipples hard as pebbles against his naked chest his kisses grew more ardent. Hermione wondered if it was possible to climax from kisses alone. Severus sat back on his haunches which gave her the opportunity to straddle him. She brought her core as close as possible to his already half-hard again member and when he started to trail little kisses and nibbles along her jaw and down her neck she came with an almighty shudder.

After she got her breath back he tugged at her hand, "Come, let's see if your fortification spells on my mattress are still working." They fairly sprinted up the narrow staircase. In front of the bed Hermione hesitated. Snape hugged her from behind, lightly enough for her to draw back any time, but when he murmured into her ear "Will you please let me cosset you?" in that dead sexy voice of his she stepped out of his embrace to get out of her clothes quickly and scrambled onto the bed. Severus dropped his briefs and followed.

For a while they simply enjoyed the feeling of skin on skin, embracing and sharing little kisses. He then kissed his way down to her collar bones, always keeping as much contact as possible. When she wanted to reciprocate he murmured, "Later, now let me worship you."

A sudden stop of movement pierced through Hermione's haze of sexual pleasure. Her mind caught up. Severus had alluded to some later time. It seemed that he now feared to have overstepped his bounds. She quickly sought to reassure him, gently carding her fingers through his hair.

"I'll hold you to that, I want to taste every inch of your skin, lick you from the shell of your ears to your toes. Later and later and later again." A surge of anger at all the people that had contributed to Severus Snape thinking himself unworthy of pleasurable attention flared but went away swiftly when he returned his mouth to her breasts. The young witch had never thought it possible to come from that alone but she did, screaming. When she had enough oxygen again for coherent thought she drew him up to her mouth for a bruising kiss, trying to pour all her appreciation and attraction into it. His smile against her cheek felt smug before he turned southwards.

Severus took his sweet time and seemed to enjoy her squirming. Some time between two orgasms Hermione felt like an experimental potion with the Potions master watching like a hawk for her reactions and any signs of trouble.

"Please, Severus!"

"Please what?"

"You know exactly what!"

He pushed up on his elbows, getting ready, when her professional expertise kicked in.

"Stop, love. Until your back is better this position is not ideal. For now best would be me straddling you or a tergo."

The tension that had come back instantly when she had said stop abated again quickly, making room for an equally mischievous and hopeful grin, "Both?"

Laughing she nodded and drew him down on the bed to lay on his back. Kissing him she put her leg over to straddle him. Hermione swatted his hand away before taking him in hand, rising up and then slowly sinking down on him. She made no effort to be quiet. They stilled for a moment, relishing in the feeling, before Severus tentatively put his hands on her hips. The young witch took the cue and started to move.

This time they didn't manage both positions, but some days later they did.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

Severus continued to improve but soon noticed that he had to adhere to some restrictions like taking care with his stance when brewing, and stopping ever so often to stretch. Hermione learned that he bored quickly and therefore adjusted his practice routine often, even introducing him to a Muggle gym.

They talked about her career prospects but did not find anything she wanted to do right now. For one Hermione could not decide in which area she wanted to pursue a mastery, too broad was her range of interests and skills. And apprenticing would mean years of grunt work before zoning in on the truly fascinating aspects of an art. Also years of living with her master or mistress, working long hours, not seeing Severus. He sensed that part of the argument quickly and pressured her not to hold back on anything for his sake but Hermione knew with absolute conviction that she could not bear the wait. Her stay in Australia and her attendance of college there had used up all of her patience in that area.

Draco Malfoy of all people pointed her in the right direction. Severus and she met with her former nemesis in Muggle Cambridge, as her lover took her along to his monthly pub crawl with the Malfoy heir. Draco talked at length about a problem at Malfoy Inc. before plunging into a heated debate with his former Head of House about the comparative worth of Newcastle versus Leicester, showing a rather thorough knowledge about Muggle football. As Hermione could not be less interested she nursed her cider and put her mind to Draco's problem. An hour later saw her requesting more paper from the barman, already sketching a solution that combined Arithmancy, runes and charms. The young woman felt confident to succeed with a little more research and presented two astonished men her ideas.

"Granger, if you can implement that plan successfully I'll pay you fivethousand gallons."

"I want ten, Malfoy, and your assurance that I will get paid even if it doesn't work right away. I will give you two weeks of my workforce on site, if it takes longer you have to pay me a hundred gallons a day."

"Deal. Will you call me Draco?"

The next two weeks were spent with happy if frantic research and Apparating between Grimmauld Place, Spinner's End and Malfoy Manor. Regulus' old room as well as Severus' dining table were littered with diagrams and sketches. Even if she had thrown herself into the project with relish never did Hermione neglect overseeing Severus physical therapy. The Potions master was bewildered at first but quite content as every evening the young woman would be in his kitchen and later in his bed. As much of her belongings were still shrunk Regulus' old room was used less and less but neither commented on it.

One Sunday evening several months later they were taking a walk along the river running from the mill. Hermione stopped and pointed out some fish in there. Severus answered with conviction, "Impossible! That river has always been corrosive muck. Whenever a child fell in it had to stay in hospital for weeks."

"Well there is a fish, and it looks quite healthy to me. Do you happen to have a phial on you? I would like to test that water."

Severus handed his partner a phial, mentally shaking his head about her antics. He had learned quickly not to do so in person. If she was on a roll there was no stopping her.

The next few days the Potions master was very busy with preparing for the winter season. Although it was an unusually nice autumn he knew his remedies would be on demand soon. Hermione was spending a lot of time in Cokeworth's Muggle library and the dining room table was littered with charts, calculations and books about ecomomy and running a business. Severus could not make head nor toes of it but was sure she would tell him if she was ready.

He himself felt quite ready to bring their relationship a step forward. Grandmother Prince's ring was resting in the kitchen drawer under a concealment charm. Twice already had he wanted to propose but lost his nerve shortly beforehand. Severus was sure that he did not want anything else in his life than what he now had with Hermione. Sure, the little house was getting cramped, and sometimes he craved solitude, but he could not remember feeling such contentment ever.

Hermione had taken him on several excursions to other cities and to walks around Cokeworth, always armed with several pens, a notebook and a camera. As she knew that he did not like to walk around the old mill she had gone there alone. Then, one evening after dinner she was nursing their favourite wine and looking thoughtful. After a few drawn breaths she addressed him, "Severus, I have been thinking."

The former spy filled with dread. Was she about to break up with him? Had he missed her being unhappy? Had he botched up another personal relationship? While all these thoughts raced through his brain he scolded himself. This was Hermione Granger, the most outspoken witch of his acquaintance, now that Bellatrix was dead. If something made her unhappy she told him so.

"Do you like our living here? Is this what you wished for?"

"Hermione, it is so much more than I ever wished for. I realise it is not much, you are probably used to much better lodgings, I - "

"Stop right there. I do not particularly care about interior decorating, although we could do with a little bit more room for our books." She stopped there, not meeting his eyes, one of the rare occasions she was searching for words. "Look, Severus - "

He had to do something, even if he appeared desperately needy. Fumbling for the ring in the kitchen drawer he flung himself on his knees in front of her.

"Hermione, we can move anywhere you want to or we can do extension charms here. Will you marry me?" Finally the little box opened and he presented the old family heirloom. The young witch was visible startled and her eyes got suspiciously shiny. Severus waited with bated breath (and more and more uncomfortable knees).

"Oh, Severus, of course I will marry you!" She drew him up to stand and made a move to kiss him.

"I believe it is customary to take the ring first." Hermione blushed and let him put the ring, rose-gold with a lovely opal, on her finger.

A while later, they were snuggled close to each other on the sofa, she enquired, "What prompted this? Why today?"

"You have been distracted the last few weeks, I wanted you to know that I am open to whatever you want to do."

"That is what I wanted to talk about tonight. You do know that you are marrying a rather destitute bride?" They had talked about Hermione's financial situation when she had still deliberated what to do with her life, back in Britain. Moving her parents to Australia had cost nearly half of her college fund, Gringott's reparations had taken the rest. Mr and Mrs Granger had tried to retrieve some money from their former practice after they had had their memories back but that effort had come to naught due to Hermione's use of Confundus charms back then. The house they still owned, it was now rented out. Money was a sore topic between the Grangers and their daughter. They had worked hard for close to twenty years to build their dentistry and while they loved their life in Australia, they blamed Hermione for the loss of reaping the benefits of their hard work. For a while she had contemplated petitioning the Ministry for the use or more Memory and Confundus charms to get the practice back for her parents but had deemed the risk too high, as she had used the first charms illegally.

"I have saved some little money from Australia and most of what I have earned as a consultant since. I was looking for possible investments but our walk to the river made me look here. Severus, do you abhor living here? I think Cokeworth has a lot of potential and we might be early enough to profit from it, but if you truly cannot stand being here we can go anywhere else."

Severus' was looking into space, thinking. He trusted Hermione to have done her research properly. If she said Cokeworth had potiential then potential there was. That left his own feelings towards the place to examine. Being retired from spying he greatly disliked changes and surprises. Here he knew quite a lot of people and how their minds worked, knew every nook and cranny, a definite plus for Spinner's End. The Snapes had been poor, but so had been everybody else. Toby had drunk too much and Eileen had been ill fitted to live the life of a factory worker's wife but they had tried their very best until the end. Eileen must have done some potions brewing on the side and had contracted a wizarding disease during her deliveries. Neither her husband nor the doctor had realised how serious her condition was. Toby had written to his son but Eileen had died before the letter had reached Hogwarts. That had been during Severus' seventh year at Hogwarts. The boy had refused to come home for Christmas, blaming his father for his mother's death. Then, one cold February morning he had been called to the Headmaster's office. Tobias Snape, seeking work in a Liverpool shipyard, had been killed when some sloppily attached load had slipped. Severus had been of age in the Muggle world as well. Minerva McGonagall hat Apparated him home to Cokeworth to attend to the funeral and his inheritance and had collected him again after a week. Mr Evans had been a great help then.

During the summer after his NEWTs Severus had sorted through his parents belongings. His maternal family had not responded to his letters which had bothered him until Lucius Malfoy had told him that his last remaining grandparent had succumbed to Dragon pox sometime in Winter. The crumbling Prince Manor had gone to a distant cousin from Italy who had sold it before even seeing it. Lucius had managed to track a painting of Severus' maternal grandfather but had advised his friend not to talk to it. The young man had not heeded this and, after listening to some tirades about an ungrateful daughter had left the thing at Borgin and Bourkes.

At Spinner's End the potions apprentice made some surprising discoveries that changed his view of his parents. Some letters, mementos and Muggle pictures, not all that old, shed some light on Eileen and Toby's marriage. It made Severus regret not having made peace with his obviously grieving father.

There was a lovingly carved wooden box that held some baby things and every report and drawing the boy had ever produced, some with proud comments in Toby's writing.

One could say that Severus had made peace with his childhood and now was able to remember the good parts fondly.

"There are good memories and there are bad memories for me in Cokeworth. I like knowing everything inside out, that helps me to relax. I would be happy with you anywhere, as long as you are there with me. If you like to stay here we will. We might need more space, though."

They had never talked about the possibility of children but the house as it was was already too small for their books.

"Mrs Jones next door mentioned that she might go to a nursing home soon. I think she would sell her house to us. It is in better shape than most of the other houses on the street."

"Yes! We could enlarge the dining room to a library and still have enough space for a – Severus, do you want children?"

He glanced at her hopeful countenance and spoke his heart, "I haven't thought it possible for me, but yes, I would like to have some with you."

When she took this as a cue to snog him enthuastically he put some distance between them, "You were in the process of telling me your plans for Cokeworth."

This drew a laugh from her.

"Cokeworth is on the up on its own. Did you know that the old mill is sold to a corporation that is planning to convert it to a hub for start-ups? Young enterprises who cannot afford the rent in Manchester proper. Most of the offices are already let. And there are quite a few businesses moving in the area, like advertising agencies and IT firms. The commute to Manchester is easily manageable and the cost is lower. Draco put me in contact with Blaise Zabini. He is running a chain of coffee shops and was already searching to expand in the North! He thinks the Singh house on the corner has potential, particularly if the mill gets converted!"

"So we are staying, we are going over to have tea with Mrs Jones, we are getting married and we are going to raise a bunch of kids here?"

"How much is a bunch? Being an only child has its drawbacks but I am not sure I am up to more than two or three."

"I am happy with any number of children you want. Why were you interested in the old mill?"

"I was thinking of opening a gym there. The first floor is still free. I could build an Apparition chamber. Since coming back to England I met witches and wizards that are either interested in working out the Muggle way or are in need of physical therapy. I had my business plan checked over by goblins and they think I am on the right track. I would need a loan but I plan to start out small. My money is enough to buy a small house in the area. I think that investment will come to fruit soon as people will move to Cokeworth. Then I can pay back the loan for the gym."

"I have saved enough, you do not need the goblins. And if Mr Zabini is interested in the house on the corner we should try to buy it too while prices are still low."

They did just that. Mrs Jones was happy for the young couple, her grandchildren were glad to be rid of her house and the corner house was acquired for a pittance from the local branch of National Westminster. Greg Goyle of all people became the manager for Cokeworth's `Whizz Gym´, being already knowledgeable in Muggle sports. Hermione found two Squibs with training as physical therapists who knew enough of the magical world to treat wizards and witches as well.

When the couple's first child, a raven haired cherub named Jeremy, arrived Greg and his team were perfectly able to fill in for Hermione Snape. Cokeworth was drawing more and more young couples, Muggles but also Squibs and witches and wizards and by the time the twins Joseph and Joshua arrived, two years after their sister Elena, was a thriving community with parks and playgrounds, kindergardens and schools. Muggle sociologists came by the droves to find out what was different here from other, still ailing old mill towns, but could not find any answers.

The End


End file.
